Death to Smoochy

Director:

Danny DeVito

Writer:

Adam Resnick

Warner Bros.; R; 108 minutes

Release:

3/02

Cast:

Edward Norton, Robin Williams, Catherine Keener

Death to Smoochy, directed by Danny DeVito and starring Ed Norton and Robin Williams, is a remarkable film. It is remarkably unpleasant. The meanspirited premise revolves around a bad clown Rainbow (Williams) seeking revenge against an intolerably “nice” clown, Smoochy (Norton, taking his cues from Barney the purple dinosaur) whose sing-songy TV show replaced Rainbow's. All manner of nastiness is employed in this trashy tale: a child star turned crackhead, a neo-Nazi rally, rampant obscenity, and of course the purposefully insipid clowns. The devotion with which Death to Smoochy's talented cast and crew make no attempt to connect with the audience is unprecedented.